#25 Terps Fall in Tallahassee to #8 Seminoles

Associated Press

10-5-2013

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The 25th-ranked Maryland football team dropped its first game of the season, 63-0, to eighth-ranked Florida State Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The Seminoles (5-0, 3-0) rode the arm of quarterback Jameis Winston, who completed 23-of-32 passes for 393 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. He's now thrown for 1,441 yards, 17 touchdowns with two interceptions and a 73.3 completion percentage.

Tight end Nick O'Leary had 55 yards receiving and two touchdowns and receiver Kelvin Benjamin added 60 yards and two touchdowns. The Seminoles put up 614 yards of total offense.

The Terps (4-1, 0-1) was unable to get anything going offensively Saturday afternoon and lost quarterback C.J. Brown late in the second quarter with an injury. The Terps second-ranked offense in the ACC was held to 234 yards.

The Florida State defense was the concern throughout the week after giving up 34 points to Boston College seven days ago. Defenders got out of their lanes and missed tackles - something the Seminoles couldn't afford against a Maryland offense that averaged 498.5 yards per game.

The Terrapins were held to 121 first-half yards and Florida State gave up a season-low 11 yards rushing on 10 attempts in the first half. Maryland punted on its first three possessions of the game, a Florida State. The Terps converted just 1-of-7 third downs in the first 30 minutes and 2-of-15 all game.

Brown went down late in the second quarter with the Terrapins trailing 14-0. Brown released a pass downfield just before Dan Hicks hit him around the waist and Jaccobi McDaniel followed with a blow to the chest. Brown lay on the turf for several minutes before he immediately headed to the locker room with a member of the medical staff. Brown was taken for X-rays and he did not return in the second half.

Caleb Rowe stepped in for Brown and completed 9-of-17passes for 119yards. Rowe’s long pass of the day was a 26-yard completion to wide receiver Nigel King late in the third quarter.

The Maryland offense was held to 234 yards and 33 yards rushing on 25 attempts. Eight different receivers caught passes on Saturday led by wide receiver Deon Long. The junior wideout caught three passes for 77 yards and averaged 25.7 yards per catch. Nigel King had a season-high 46 receiving yards on three receptions, while Stefon Diggs finished with two receptions for 24 yards.

It was the Florida State offense that started slow this week, but that didn't last long. The Seminoles scored on their first drive, a Karlos Williams 1-yard touchdown run, and then punted on the next three consecutive drives. That's when Winston took over.

The Seminoles scored touchdowns on their next eight consecutive possessions.

Late in the third quarter with the pocket collapsing and linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil on Winston's back, the quarterback ducked and slid out of the sack, rolled right and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to O'Leary.

Williams added another touchdown from 17 yards out in the fourth quarter and backup quarterback Jacob Coker ran for a 24-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Defensive back Sean Davis led the Terps with a career-high 12 tackles and a team-best nine solo, while defensive back Anthony Nixon also totaled a career high with 10 tackles, eight solo. Defensive lineman Andre Monroe recorded his second sack of the season and totaled three tackles for loss for 15 yards.

Maryland hosts Virginia next week at 3:30 p.m. at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.